In its findings, the IGC reported that, as a result of its efforts:
• No member of legacy Legal & General workplace pension schemes need now pay more than 1% in annual charges where they choose the standard default investment option
• All members will now have access to the full range of pensions ‘freedom and choice’ introduced by the government in April 2015
The independent chair of the IGC, Paul Trickett, commented, “‘The IGC is pleased to report good progress in working with Legal & General to review defined contribution pension arrangements and improve outcomes for members. It is our understanding that Legal & General intends to maintain its position as a market leader in DC pensions and the IGC has actively sought to offer rigorous challenge in order to encourage them to think about the investment required to maintain this position.
“We have more work to do to be able to give a definitive view on ‘value for money’, both in terms of looking at information within Legal & General and being able to compare that across the market. We would have liked to have done more but a year is a very short time in which to address this subject.
“We hope that we, as an IGC, and along with other IGCs who are working with other providers, can help members get better value from their pension savings and contribute towards building greater trust in the pensions system.”
Emma Douglas, Head of DC Distribution at Legal & General Investment Management, said, “Legal & General was the first pension provider to set up an IGC, several months in advance of government legislation, and we appreciate the challenges they’ve set us. It’s exactly this kind of constructive feedback that helps us to improve our products and services and it shows the value of true independent governance.”
The IGC pledged to continue to monitor all schemes to ensure compliance with charge thresholds; review all designated default investment funds; and publish admin performance standards at six monthly intervals.
The IGC also announced that it will host the first annual members forum on 11 October 2016.
A link to the full report can be found here
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